Peril in the Jungle

Lu Feng followed Jia Tianliang farther and farther away. Seeing that the time was right, he stopped concealing his intentions and questioned him outright:

"Tell me, what task did Qi Jialue give you?"

Jia Tianliang shot Lu Feng a feignedly bewildered glance and gave an awkward laugh. "What are you saying, Brother Lin? Senior Brother Qi merely told me to bring you to the place where the Claw Marks were discovered. Nothing else. Look, we'll be there after just a few more steps."

Lu Feng sneered, and a cold gleam flashed in his hand.

Jia Tianliang only saw a blur before a lock of hair from his forehead was sliced away.

"B-Brother Lin!" Jia Tianliang's tongue trembled, though he still forced himself to remain calm. "What do you mean by this?"

Even his question carried a tremor, showing how badly that sword strike had frightened him.

As he stared at the ordinary longsword in Lu Feng's hand, he realized that he had not even seen how Lu Feng had drawn his sword. It had been absurdly fast.

He had originally thought that, with at least the strength of the Five Elements Realm, even against an Earth Soul Realm soulmaster, he would have some ability to protect himself and escape.

But that single strike had utterly shattered his confidence.

With such a swift sword strike, let alone himself, even Qi Jialue likely would not be able to block it.

Jia Tianliang was deeply shaken and keenly realized that the man before him was far from ordinary.

Lu Feng's icy words, laden with threat, slowly rang out. "There is no one around. If you still refuse to tell the truth, this lock of hair will be your fate."

Feeling that killing intent, colder than ice and snow, Jia Tianliang was terrified to the extreme. He hurriedly dropped to his knees with a thud.

"Brother Lin, don't kill me! It was all Senior Brother Qi's—no, Qi Jialue's—coercion. I didn't mean to harm you."

Lu Feng demanded sternly, "What was his purpose in having you bring me here?"

"He..." Jia Tianliang's heart suddenly lurched, and he stammered, "I... I don't know. I only heard him... muttering to himself, 'If she won't be pestered, then I'll do it directly.' I-I truly don't know what he intends to do."

"Helping a tyrant commit evil!" Lu Feng's expression turned cold. "If you don't want to die, walk ten steps forward yourself!"

"N-No..." Jia Tianliang's eyes filled with terror at once. Ten steps ahead was precisely where Qi Jialue had set up the formation.

He had never imagined that a formation so well concealed could be discovered so easily.

This could not possibly have been a coincidence!

No wonder Lu Feng had stopped here.

For a moment, Jia Tianliang's heart churned like rivers and seas, filled with terror and chaos.

But he could not withstand Lu Feng's slowly rising hand.

Seeing that a terrifying sword strike was about to cleave down upon his head—

Jia Tianliang gritted his teeth and suddenly fled into the formation.

He knew that if he remained where he was, he would surely die. But if he charged into the formation, perhaps there was still a sliver of hope for survival.

Lu Feng cast an indifferent glance at the formation, ignoring Jia Tianliang's anguished screams from within.

Any cultivator had to bear responsibility for what they did;

if one harbored the intent to harm others, one had to be prepared to be bound by the cocoon one had spun.

The reason Lu Feng had gone along with Qi Jialue's scheme was that he had wanted to see whether he could find another chance to travel alone and familiarize himself with the terrain in the Mountain Range Depths.

His interrogation of Jia Tianliang had also been for the sake of caution. If Qi Jialue had merely set up a few ambushes against him, Lu Feng had planned to use the situation to make it seem as though he had been trapped, then secretly slip away and begin his own actions.

But he had not expected Qi Jialue to be so brazenly lustful, intending to harm Chu Youwei.

Left with no choice, Lu Feng had to abandon the plan once more and turn back for peace of mind.

Considering that Lin Xiaowan and the many new disciples were by Chu Youwei's side, even if Qi Jialue harbored improper intentions, his status and background should have made it difficult for him to carry them out openly.

Therefore, though Lu Feng could not entirely put his mind at ease, he was not overly worried.

However, just as he returned to the original area of the jungle, waves of miserable screams suddenly reached his ears.

Lu Feng's expression changed drastically.

Had Qi Jialue really become this reckless? Did he completely disregard the dignity of the Limitless Sect and the Grand Prison, daring to openly attack and harm the Team Leader Senior Sister during the New Disciple Assessment?

He dashed forward at high speed and arrived at the original area.

As far as the eye could see lay bodies scattered in all directions...

The many disciples originally in Lin Xiaowan's group had almost all been killed.

The scene was a complete mess, too horrible to behold.

Although Fang Ya, Tang Youcai, and the others were still alive, they were sprawled against the trees in disarray, their bodies more or less stained with blood.

Lu Feng's expression instantly grew incomparably grave. Looking around, he saw neither Lin Xiaowan nor Chu Youwei, nor was Qi Jialue anywhere to be found.

Did he really do this!?

Lu Feng's heart shook, and killing intent surged.

"B-Brother Lin..." Fang Ya's weak call sounded from behind him. "Quick, go..."

Before she could finish, her grievous injuries caused her to faint.

Tang Youcai beside her took over, just about to speak.

Qi Jialue's figure suddenly rushed back from the distance.

Lu Feng's gaze had been overflowing with killing intent, but upon seeing Qi Jialue's current appearance, he could not help but freeze.

His face was covered in bruised, swollen welts; his hair was in disarray; his clothes were torn; and a crimson palm print remained on his exposed chest.

After a brief pause, Tang Youcai spoke in a bleak voice. "Brother Lin, hurry and save Senior Sister Chu and the others."

Upon hearing this, Lu Feng's suspicions toward Qi Jialue lessened considerably. Tang Youcai had not shown any panic at Lu Feng's return, so this tragic scene should not have been Qi Jialue's doing.

Qi Jialue hurried over at this moment and pointed toward the Mountain Range Depths.

"Quick, Yan Wentai abducted Miss Chu. Quick..."

Before he could finish, Lu Feng had already charged in the direction he indicated.

Lu Feng was clearly far more wary of Yan Wentai than Qi Jialue.

At present, Qi Jialue might still have reservations due to his status and background, but an unknown figure like Yan Wentai had attempted an assassination before. He was the sort who could do anything.

His cruel slaughter of his own teammates alone showed just how vile his nature was.

If Chu Youwei and Lin Xiaowan had truly fallen into his hands, their chances of survival were slim.

After Lu Feng left, Qi Jialue weakly propped himself up. A cunning smile appeared on his pale face.

Not long after.

Chu Youwei suddenly rushed back from another direction.

"Did you catch up to him?"

Seeing that Qi Jialue had returned ahead of her, Chu Youwei was first startled, then suspicious.

Earlier, the two of them had pursued Yan Wentai, who had abducted Lin Xiaowan. But they had lost him halfway and reached a fork in the road, where they chose to split up and search separately.

Chu Youwei had gone deep along one path without finding the slightest trace, and she had assumed Yan Wentai must have taken the other road.

Yet she had not expected Qi Jialue to return so quickly.

He clearly had not put in any effort!

Qi Jialue shook his head. "That bastard ran too fast. I lost him."

As he spoke, he put on an extremely irritated expression and complained, "If that bastard hadn't ambushed me and wounded me, I would have caught up to him easily."

Chu Youwei's delicate brows furrowed even tighter, her eyes filled with worry.

Tang Youcai weakly called out from behind, "Senior Sister Chu—Brother Lin heard that you had been abducted and rushed after you."

He pointed toward the path Qi Jialue had taken when he returned.

Chu Youwei faintly sensed that something was wrong. She looked at Qi Jialue. "What did you mean when you said I had been abducted?"

Qi Jialue gave an embarrassed smile. "Listen to this mouth of mine. I was too worried about you just now, so I accidentally said that you were the one who had been abducted."

Chu Youwei's face darkened.

Qi Jialue smiled teasingly. "But he really is a lovesick fool. The moment he heard you were in danger, he charged off without the slightest hesitation, completely disregarding that the direction leads into the Mountain Range Depths, where dangers lurk at every turn."

The gravity on Chu Youwei's face gathered like dark clouds, yet a strange warmth flashed through her heart.

Seeing that the moment was about right, Qi Jialue changed his tone. "Forget it, forget it. I'll accompany Miss Chu and brave the danger once more."

As he spoke, he gestured for Chu Youwei to go deeper with him.

Chu Youwei instinctively took a step, but her heart inexplicably tightened. As doubt arose, she looked at the wounded and crippled Fellow Disciples all over the ground and ultimately stopped.

"Return to the manor first. Report what happened here immediately!"

Qi Jialue's expression changed, and gloom instantly filled his eyes.

His plan had been to use this chance to find an opportunity to be alone with Chu Youwei. Everything had gone so smoothly, and just as it was about to happen, why did something go wrong at this crucial moment?

Shouldn't Chu Youwei have been so worried that she lost her reason and went searching?

One was her lover, the other her sister. Were they not important enough?

How could she still have the mind to care about anything else?

Looking at Chu Youwei again, there was clearly a trace of ferocity in her expression, as though she had made a life-or-death decision.

After some thought, Qi Jialue decided to administer another strong dose of medicine.

"Returning to the manor is fine too. Hopefully, we can invite the elders in time to save them."

"With Brother Lin's ability, even if he encounters that dog Yan Wentai, holding him off for a while should not be a problem. I'm only afraid..."

"Afraid of what?" Chu Youwei was already in immense distress, and hearing this made her heart clench.

Qi Jialue chuckled lightly. "I'm afraid Yan Wentai might be shameless enough to use his sister as a hostage. Then the outcome would be hard to predict."

Chu Youwei's entire body trembled.

Qi Jialue continued, "But that isn't even the worst outcome. The direction he chased toward passes through the area where we hunted the White Patterned Ancient Wolf earlier. If he really encounters that Dark Tiger Python, then that would truly be misfortune upon misfortune."

"At that point, even if the elders arrive, they may only be able to help collect the corpses."

"Oh, no—if they really encounter the Dark Tiger Python, there may not even be corpses left to collect."

By now, Chu Youwei's heart was in complete turmoil. Never before had she felt so utterly at a loss. Even when she had learned that she would be forced to offer herself up for Luo Tianfu's amusement, she had not felt this terrible.

Her fair hand clenched into a delicate fist, her smooth jade-like nails digging red marks into her palm.

Her heart was bitter and aching. Amid her helplessness and bewilderment, it felt as though the sky were falling.

Qi Jialue could tell that Chu Youwei had been persuaded by his words and had lost her resolve. Yet seeing her so emotionally anxious, his male pride and jealousy still made him unable to resist asking one more question.

"Miss Chu, who are you more worried about right now?"

"Your good sister?"

"Or your fiancé?"

If it was her sister, perhaps he would have a little more patience and reconsider whether to carry out the vile act in his plan.

But if not, then he could not be blamed for ruthlessly destroying a flower.